The Ministry of Information and Communications has just announced the conclusion of the interdisciplinary inspection team on TikTok's operations in Vietnam at a regular press conference on the afternoon of October 5. The two legal entities of TikTok in Vietnam that were inspected include the Representative Office of TikTok Pte. Ltd in Ho Chi Minh City (TikTok Office) and TikTok Vietnam Technology Company Limited (TikTok Vietnam Company).

The inspection conclusion showed that TikTok's violations in Vietnam include providing social networking services, child protection, and providing e-commerce services.

Not only that, the inspection results also determined that a third party, TikTok Singapore, will be responsible for complying with Vietnamese law in providing cross-border services to Vietnam.

According to Mr. Le Quang Tu Do, Director of the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information (PTTH&TTDT, Ministry of Information and Communications), with the violations just discovered, in the conclusion, the inspection team including 6 ministries and branches recommended many handling measures.

Specifically, the inspection team requested the TikTok Office to be responsible under Vietnamese law for the provision of cross-border e-commerce trading floor services into Vietnam through the TikTok application. The TikTok Office is authorized by TikTok Singapore to directly participate in the management and provision of cross-border services into Vietnam.

Regarding TikTok Vietnam Technology Company Limited, the inspection team requested that this unit be authorized by TikTok Singapore to directly participate in management activities and provide cross-border services to Vietnam.

W-le-quang-tu-do-tiktok-1-2.jpg

Mr. Le Quang Tu Do announced the conclusion of the inspection of TikTok's operations in Vietnam. Photo: Le Anh Dung

TikTok must immediately correct violations in social networks and advertising

The inspection team also made recommendations to relevant ministries and branches to implement the inspection conclusions and strengthen management of TikTok Singapore's cross-border service provision activities in Vietnam.

The Ministry of Information and Communications has been recommended to take measures to force TikTok Singapore to immediately correct violations in providing social networking services and cross-border advertising services to Vietnam as pointed out in the inspection conclusion.

Specifically, TikTok must remove 100% of content that violates Vietnamese law and have solutions to prevent re-posting of blocked, removed content. The platform must add compliance with Vietnamese law to its Community Standards, periodically notify all TikTok users about compliance with Vietnamese law, strictly prohibit posting content that opposes the Party and State, violates Vietnamese law, and warn about sanctions and handling measures if users post or share content that violates the law (depending on the severity of the violation, accounts may be temporarily locked, permanently deleted, etc.).

TikTok does not use algorithms to create trends or recommend to users content that violates Vietnamese law; completely prohibits political advertising with content that opposes the Party and State of Vietnam; coordinates in providing information to verify and investigate illegal acts carried out on the TikTok platform according to regulations.

tiktok violation.jpg

The Ministry of Information and Communications has discovered many harmful and toxic contents posted on TikTok.

TikTok is also required to implement child protection measures as prescribed in Articles 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, Chapter IV on the responsibility to protect children in the online environment, Decree No. 56/2017/ND-CP dated May 9, 2017 of the Government detailing a number of articles of the Law on Children.

In particular, special attention should be paid to verifying account information to detect cases where children declare incorrect age when using TikTok, and deleting accounts of children under 13 years old. TikTok must also limit the time of access and use of TikTok for people under 18 years old, and not allow children to earn money through TikTok.

The platform is also required to protect children's personal information, and must have the consent of children and their parents, caregivers, and guardians when posting videos, or the videos must be masked or blurred before posting. TikTok must warn about the age of videos on TikTok, strictly control videos with nonsense, harmful, and age-inappropriate content. In addition, research and development of a dedicated app for kids in Vietnam.

TikTok is also required to improve its content censorship system (especially for livestreaming) to proactively prevent content that violates Vietnamese law on the TikTok platform (including technology, software, personnel, processes and censorship criteria). The platform must have specific and effective solutions to clean up its platform and limit fake news and toxic news.

TikTok's legal entities in Vietnam (Representative Offices or TikTok Vietnam Technology Company Limited) must be authorized to control content on the TikTok platform in Vietnam to effectively handle requests from State management agencies.

TikTok is also responsible for closely coordinating with the Ministry of Information and Communications and relevant agencies to manage content creators on the TikTok platform (KOLs, KOCs, artists, etc.).

This includes implementing measures to limit the appearance of images, artistic products, performances, etc. on the TikTok platform of content creators who violate legal regulations or the Code of Conduct in cyberspace.

Guiding content creators not to create harmful content, building and spreading clean content, participating in policy communication activities organized by State management agencies. Cooperating with the Ministry of Information and Communications to deploy communication campaigns to clean up cyberspace, raise people's awareness, promote socio-economic development, and bring benefits to the community.

TikTok is also required to have agreements with Vietnamese press agencies when cooperating to distribute and share content on the basis of Vietnamese law on copyright.

tiktok.jpg

TikTok will have to comply with legal regulations when operating in Vietnam.

Ministries and sectors will strengthen management of TikTok's operations

In conclusion, the Inspection Team recommended that the Ministry of Public Security request TikTok Singapore to store Vietnamese users' data according to regulations and authorize TikTok's legal entity in Vietnam to ensure information safety and security according to regulations.

The Ministry of Public Security was also asked to monitor TikTok Singapore's implementation of storing Vietnamese users' data according to the Inspection Conclusion and closely coordinate with the Ministry of Information and Communications in detecting, preventing, and handling violations of the law on the TikTok platform in Vietnam.

Regarding the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the inspection team recommended that the Ministry take measures to force TikTok Singapore to immediately correct the violations in providing cross-border e-commerce platform services to Vietnam as pointed out in the Inspection Conclusion.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade was also recommended to take appropriate measures against the violations of TikTok Singapore and the representative office of TikTok Pte. Ltd in providing e-commerce platform services in Vietnam.

In addition, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will monitor the correction of violations in the provision of e-commerce platforms by the Representative Office and TikTok Singapore according to the inspection conclusion, and strengthen supervision of e-commerce platform provision activities through the TikTok application in Vietnam.

The inspection team also recommended that the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs strengthen coordination with the Ministry of Information and Communications to deploy solutions to protect children in the online environment, exploit and effectively operate the network to respond to and protect children in the online environment, and monitor TikTok's compliance with the Law on Children and regulations of Vietnamese law related to the prevention of social evils in Vietnam.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is requested to strengthen coordination with the Ministry of Information and Communications in managing people working in the arts field on the TikTok platform, and monitor TikTok's compliance with Vietnamese law on copyright and related rights in Vietnam.

Vietnamnet.vn